Black power at root of S.F. flap / Consulate moving South of Market

People braved the rain while waiting in a long line to apply for an ID card from the Mexican Consulate at the Flood Building.
PAUL CHINN/S.F. CHRONICLE

People braved the rain while waiting in a long line to apply for an ID card from the Mexican Consulate at the Flood Building.
PAUL CHINN/S.F. CHRONICLE

Photo: PAUL CHINN

Photo: PAUL CHINN

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People braved the rain while waiting in a long line to apply for an ID card from the Mexican Consulate at the Flood Building.
PAUL CHINN/S.F. CHRONICLE

People braved the rain while waiting in a long line to apply for an ID card from the Mexican Consulate at the Flood Building.
PAUL CHINN/S.F. CHRONICLE

Photo: PAUL CHINN

Black power at root of S.F. flap / Consulate moving South of Market

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The Mexican Consulate -- under daily siege by hundreds of people ever since San Francisco began recognizing its consular ID cards as valid identification -- is looking to leave its digs in the historic Flood Building downtown for a building South of Market.

Mexican Consulate officials tell us they're putting the finishing touches on a deal to buy a 30,000-square-foot building at 532 Folsom St. That's five times the space the consulate has in its 50-year-old offices at Powell and Market streets.

Word of the move comes none too soon for John's Grill owner John Konstin, who has been battling to do something about the line of card seekers that at times blocks the door of his Ellis Street restaurant.

"This is great -- you're not going to have people standing there with their kids in the freezing weather," Konstin said upon hearing the news.

The Sept. 11 terror attacks and resulting crackdown on immigrants trying to get work prompted an incredible demand for the consular "matricula cards" in San Francisco and elsewhere.

The city has recognized them since February -- and now, consular officials say they're issuing some 6,000 cards a month. That's triple the number issued before Sept. 11.

Consul representative Bernardo Mendez told us that his office and the seller had come to terms on a lease agreement for the Folsom Street building --

with an option to buy -- and that the only issue left was securing financing.

Mendez put the sales price at between $7 million and $7.5 million.

"We're just waiting for an answer from the bank," Mendez said. If the deal goes ahead, the move from the Flood Building -- which houses eight other Latin American consulates -- could take place within three to four months.

MAKING HAY OF HAYGOOD: Like so many rides on the roller coaster we call San Francisco City Hall, the up-and-down flap over the recent dismissal of elections chief Tammy Haygood comes down to power.

Whites still have most of it. Gays and other growing minorities are getting more of it every day.

And blacks -- especially those aligned with Mayor Willie Brown -- are losing power with every election.

Pollster David Binder estimates that about 10 percent of the city's registered voters are African American -- but only about 8 percent those who show up at the polls are black.

As one mayoral aide told us, "Eventually, when you get messed with enough, you mess back."

That was the idea behind Brown's call for elections commissioners to resign -- and the rally his friends among the African American leadership staged at City Hall the other day.

To be honest, by San Francisco standards, the size of the crowd was modest at best.

But they more than made up for it at the microphone with former Supervisor Amos Brown, who lost his seat to novice Gerardo Sandoval, pointing his finger at the new Board of Supervisors and calling it "basically a group of all-white males who claim to be progressive and who act as if no one else lives in this town."

Assessor Doris Ward, who is fighting for her job in a tough runoff against former Supervisor Mabel Teng, said the point was "to make people aware that we are still very much a part of this city and that even though our numbers have diminished, we want to be recognized as a voice."

There was no mistaking the voice of the Bayview organizer Charlie Walker -- who seemed to be taking on just about everyone.

"Back in the '60s when we were marching for justice, no Mexicans, no Chinese or other minorities came to say, 'We're with you, brother.' But as soon as the government said, 'We'll give you this or that' -- they lined up right away."

Walker, who is still an active voice in Bayview and port development despite a conviction years back for extortion -- and who often helps provide bodies for such demonstrations -- added, "We're still the ones who get the worst treatment. But everyone else benefits from it."

ON THE SCENE: Lots of double takes at Friday night's opening of San Francisco's hot new restaurant Julia.

But the eyes weren't on celebrity guest and dog-mauling prosecutor Jim Hammer.

No -- the main attraction was dog victim Diane Whipple's former partner, Sharon Smith, and her new flame, whom party attendees described as a virtual Whipple look-alike.

"Really freaky," whispered one dinner guest.

BUSH WHACKING: Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea for President Bush to steer clear of San Francisco during his California visit.

The last time a Republican president came to San Francisco was in 1990 when Bush's dad spoke to the Commonwealth Club at the Hilton.

And when Bush senior came here during his vice presidency, the result was a crowd of demonstrators at Union Square having it out with the cops. United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta was among the victims that time, losing her spleen after a police officer beat her with his club.

That run-in wound up costing the city an $875,000 settlement.

PSSST: The call came from a very reliable source. "Rolling Stones. Pac Bell Park. September."